Zombies, Do they bleed?

[usmcludwig]

I would think so. If their blood is pumping then they can bleed, and they didn't say they were dead. Which means their blood could still be pumping.

I don't see how they couldn't be dead. Being exposed to the heat, dead bodies (including eating of them) among other things. That would kill living humans in no time.

The only theory of them somehow just being "infected" and alive would be that the virus they are exposed to makes them EXTREMELY resilient to disease, climate conditions, malnutrition, pain and apparently most anything else that would ail and ultimately kill a regular human.

Reanimation just makes more sense (in a science-fiction type way). At least then, you know what a normal dead person is and can just calculate in the virus which reanimates the corpse basic motor functions and gives them the yearning to spread the virus.

[JusticePain]

They are from the CDC man. They are fast ones and smart they are tricky too. Like a foamy!!!! The are small to veryveryvery tricky cleaver to like meat and a meeting of the small one as well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[nikvoodoo]

I don't see how they couldn't be dead. Being exposed to the heat, dead bodies (including eating of them) among other things. That would kill living humans in no time.

The only theory of them somehow just being "infected" and alive would be that the virus they are exposed to makes them EXTREMELY resilient to disease, climate conditions, malnutrition, pain and apparently most anything else that would ail and ultimately kill a regular human.

Reanimation just makes more sense (in a science-fiction type way). At least then, you know what a normal dead person is and can just calculate in the virus which reanimates the corpse basic motor functions and gives them the yearning to spread the virus.

Damn...I thought I responded to this idea when you posted it. I'm losing my edge in the between season time.....

I don't even think that the virus/whatever it happens to be needs to increase the resilience to things. What I think could be happening is a disruption to the nervous system of some manner. They still take the damage just like anything else, but their bodies are capable of ignoring the pain signals being sent. We've seen one walking on a broken leg, multiple zombies get shot and keep coming, but I think the most telling sign is the Jumper in chapter 12.

The Jumper is the only zombie that has been encountered (just off memory, I don't recall this as fact at the moment) that we know for a fact died from a traumatic body injury and not a head shot. So it seems like the zombies are alive but just don't feel pain and die from killing the brain, or by causing so much damage to the body it's physically not capable of living anymore.

[zorakid]

I always considered them to be alive, just like the infected in 28 days later and Quarantine. Realistically speaking, the human body cannot function without blood flow. But i guess it really depends on how the author constructs the setting. For example, in the novel world war Z, the zombies don't have blood circulation yet it's still a sci-fi zombie type of book instead of voodoo magic.

[usmcludwig]

I always considered them to be alive, just like the infected in 28 days later and Quarantine. Realistically speaking, the human body cannot function without blood flow. But i guess it really depends on how the author constructs the setting. For example, in the novel world war Z, the zombies don't have blood circulation yet it's still a sci-fi zombie type of book instead of voodoo magic.

Max Brooks explains in The Zombie Survival guide how Solanum (his zombie virus) works in the physiology of the undead tho- clearly noting the working of the blood in them.

The Jumper is the only zombie that has been encountered (just off memory, I don't recall this as fact at the moment) that we know for a fact died from a traumatic body injury and not a head shot. So it seems like the zombies are alive but just don't feel pain and die from killing the brain, or by causing so much damage to the body it's physically not capable of living anymore.

That can be so in any zombie structure tho- severing the nerve's threw spinal trauma should be a sure fire way to permanently disable a zombie- living or undead.

But yes- they can be alive- can't throw that out the window...

[kek]

I was just thinking about what Michael said in the beginning about the zombies having scars. It takes a while to form scars and it can't happen if the tissue and flesh are dead. I think this is evidence that the people originally infected might have been tested on. Or that the cells in the infected are indeed alive. They would need blood to form scabs and to keep the wounds closed to form the scar tissue.

So would the zombies be able to fight infections? Blood and flesh are usually warm and wet, perfect places for microbes to live and grow. That would mean the zombies are infected with bountiful microorganisms and bacteria. So would they be able to fight that, or do zombies get the flu? It also brings back the blood thing, since white blood cells fight off infections. Would the zombies have working WBCs, or does it even matter to them that they are crawling in bacteria?

Just some thoughts as I take a break from studying for my microbiology exam....

[gaijinpunk]

Going back to the original question "Do zombies bleed?"

They WOULD continue to bleed (from a wound low on their body) until the fluids drained down below the level of the wound. When a corpse rests on it's back, much of the fluid within sinks downward towards it's back (same for if it's laying on it's side, face etc.) and causes what looks like heavy bruising.
Now, since a true zombie's heart wouldn't pump, and clotting is a characteristic of LIVING beings, it would eventually cease to bleed due to lack of fluid (which it wouldn't need anyway).
The INFECTED (which is what I kind of think the creatures in WA are) would need to breathe, would need to eat, sleep, crap. Everything a normal human would need to do, but their nerves no longer send pain impulses to their brains, or if they do, the part of their brain that recognizes it (along with most of their intelligence, personality and higher brain functions) would be toast. They'd ignore wounds (while still being venerable to damage and possibly bleeding out) , they wouldn't have any bowel control (which would make them smell like shit. but then again, the first thing you do when you DIE is shit yourself as your bowels release, so true zombies would smell the same way), they'd be able to make their bodies perform at the peak of it's ability due to the lack of pain (again, the impulse doesn't reach their brain. Unlike a true zombie though, as long as they feed and rest the INFECTED might be able to heal minor damage over time) and their circulatory system would still operate, along with their immune system. So INFECTED would bleed, as long as their hearts continued beating.
That was an excellent question, by the way, kek.

[yarri]

We don't know for sure if they were walking along the bottom. I think theres a good chance they would have noticed if they were on the surface though, Pegs and Michael were swimming through the water toward the boat, any odd movement probably would have caught their eye. maybe the zombies just dont need as much air? or, depending how far the island was from the boat, maybe the zombies came while michael and pegs were inside the boat. Riley did not mention seeing any zombies though before they arrived at the boat did she? and wouldn't she have seen them if she was looking towards the boat from the shore?

Or with their more primitive brain they need less and adapted a mammalian diving reflex and shunted all the 02 they had to their chests and vital organs. Or prehaps they got gills? hmmm

[7oddisdead]

So do the nerve tissues in the body need oxygen to continue to function? I know most every part if the body derives some form of nourishment from air...but if the nerve center is only running off electrical energy...is breathing needed...the lack of oxygen in the body could explain the bruising seen early on...hmm there's something to all of this...but I know very little of all this...carry on medical people!

[kek]

Nerves need a blood supply, they do need oxygen to work. Nerves can work for a very short period of time with limited oxygen, but then the nerves and their axons will suffer damage that may or may not be able to be repaired by a continuation of blood/oxygen supply. There will be damage to the nerves that will not be able to be fixed at all. The nerves will then begin to atrophy and misfire due to oxygen deprivation, if it happens too long. This can result in brain damage and loss of muscle control, and other problems.